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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27886393">wire and wool</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/underworld_capcakes/pseuds/underworld_capcakes'>underworld_capcakes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Knitting, M/M, Octopunk Advent, Post-Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, Soft Gavin Reed, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900, i geuss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:54:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,938</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27886393</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/underworld_capcakes/pseuds/underworld_capcakes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“What is happening?” Gavin spluttered, still standing in the apartment doorway.<br/>“I'm knitting,” Nines said, like it was obvious.<br/>-<br/>Gavin comes home and is met with an oddly charming sight.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>wire and wool</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>written for Octopunk Advent day 4: ugly sweaters<br/>but also partly inspired by me doing something similar and then being unable to get the idea for this fic out of my head.<br/>that's also because ever since discovering Detroit Evolution it has completely consumed my mind, and i'm super excited for tomorrow!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Gavin had only been gone for ten minutes. He’d gotten up to make a fresh cup of coffee only to discover the tin was empty, and so had walked down to the shop on the corner of the block in desperation. When Gavin had left he was certain that Nines had just been working through case files, but upon opening their apartment door he was met with a sight that was equal parts alarming as it was heartwarming.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin stood frozen, coat still hanging off one arm as he took in the sight before him. Nines was sitting cross legged in the middle of the living room floor, and for some strange reason was practically completely tangled up in red and green wool. Gavin could almost understand how it would get around his legs, but was perplexed to see it winding all the way up to his shoulders and down his arms. The colours of the wool and his LED flashing blue and occasionally cycling a round of yellow seemed to make him look almost like a Christmas tree.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Given the wool spread around the carpet, it wasn’t at all surprising that Salmon, the cat, was chasing a ball of wool across the carpet, getting himself tangled up in the process. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin stared at the intently focused look on Nines’s face, before following his line of sight to the tangle of needles and yarn in his hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is happening?” Gavin spluttered, still standing in the apartment doorway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'm knitting,” Nines said, like it was obvious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which granted, Gavin could have guessed from the needles and wool. But he was still caught up in the strangeness of it all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I can see that,” Gavin responded, finally stepping further into the apartment and hanging up his coat. He walked into the living room, dropping his coffee on the coffee table. “But the question is: why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines looked up at Gavin sheepishly. He shrugged slightly and Gavin caught the faint blue hue rising on his cheeks before he looked back down at the wool in his hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Salmon looked cold,” he mumbled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Salmon looked…” Gavin trailed off, struck by the whole absurdity of the situation and at how Nines seemed to be slightly... embarrassed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned away from his crazy boyfriend to look at the cat that was now free from wool, but still pawing at the ball. Then Gavin looked up to the window, seeing the build up of snow on the sill and the grey clouds beyond. He glanced back at the cat, then to the knitting in his boyfriend’s hands and finally back up to Nines. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re knitting a sweater for our cat?” Gavin asked, slightly dumbfounded at the idea. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, yes. I thought it was obvious,” Nines said deflectively, but Gavin caught his growing blush no doubt at the easy way the ‘our cat’ had slipped off Gavin’s tongue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines hadn’t officially been moved in for all that long, but given how Salmon gravitated towards his lap, the cat had definitely claimed Nines as a second parent. Not that Gavin was mad at all. Though Gavin did slightly miss being the main object of Salmon’s cuddles, he was certainly not complaining about it when he got to see the once stoic android curled up with his cat, a look of pure joy spread across his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin flopped down onto the carpet besides Nines. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re mad,” he said, laughing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines looked up, slightly affronted, and Gavin only laughed harder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But it’s a cute look on you,” he said, leaning over and planting a kiss on Nines’s cheek. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin looked down at the half formed jersey in Nines’s hands, not at all surprised to see the neat little stitches despite the tangle of wool wrapped around the android’s limbs. Gavin reached out, tugging on a red string and trying his best to start untangling some of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where on earth did you get all this?” Gavin asked, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend, silently questioning the plausibility of Cyberlife’s finest carrying around a stash of wool. “I was barely gone for 15 minutes and I sure as hell didn’t have any wool and knitting needles lying around anywhere in the flat.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines looked away. “Well…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin’s arm paused in lifting his coffee as he looked up at Nines at that, still slightly confused. But he supposed that was just a side effect of finding </span>
  <em>
    <span>Nines</span>
  </em>
  <span> knitting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He raised an eyebrow at Nines, hopefully prompting him to continue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, let’s just say that there may have been,” Nines said slowly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s that’s supposed to mean?” Gavin asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines looked down at his hands. “I guess I just wanted to create something. To make something simple from scratch, with my own hands. I came across a pattern the other day and decided to buy some wool.” Nines paused, then added, “And well, I thought it might be fun.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin pulled a face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh don’t look so,” Nines said. “It’s not actually that boring. The patterns are actually quite soothing; as is the rhythm that comes with the stitches. And like I said, Salmon was looking a bit on the cold side, so I thought, why not?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin chose to not point out that the cat was incredibly fluffy, and probably wasn’t freezing inside the warm apartment. Instead he said, “So you’ve just been knitting whenever I’m not here?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The idea was that the jersey was meant to be a surprise. And I only started today.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m guessing that’s how you got so tangled,” he said, gesturing to the wool still half covering Nines.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines huffed, setting the needles down to tug at the wool, pulling some of it down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin couldn’t help smiling up at Nines. He was still so fascinated by all the new things he stumbled across in life, despite having access to information about practically everything stored in his brain. It must be something about the lived experience, the feeling of being alive that only seemed to come from the seemingly smaller things in life, but which made it all worth it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And without fail, each time Nines’s face would light up with a smile, wide eyes scanning and his LED flashing yellow momentarily as he’d take it all in, before returning to the calm blue. And each time Gavin would drink in the wonder on his face, mapping it out and committing it to memory, vowing to keep finding new ways to put that expression there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin leaned back against the couch, shoulder pressed against Nines’s as he returned to the steady movements that created the new stitches. Gavin pulled Salmon over as he ambled past, still trying to destroy the ball of wool. But he gave up the chase, only squirming slightly, before settling into Gavin’s lap, half curled up there, half stretched over into Nines’s lap. He scratched behind the cat’s ears, eliciting a purr. Gavin sighed, content to sit there for the rest of the evening, the steady click click of the needles and the sound of Salmon purring soothing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here,” Nines said, a while later, nudging Gavin’s hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d made steady progress on Salmon’s tiny jersey, which was now placed on the coffee table beside Gavin’s empty coffee cup. He was holding out another set of needles to Gavin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin raised an eyebrow skeptically at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on,” Nines said. “Humour me. At least you’ll understand why it’s enjoyable.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin sighed. It’s not like he could say no to anything the android asked for, especially with that cute look on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine,” Gavin said, holding his open for the needles. “Whatever you say, plastic granny.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines shook his head, but Gavins still caught the amused smile on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He placed the needles in Gavin’s hands, which he now noted already had a row of green stitches on the one. Nines placed his hands over Gavin’s. Then he slowly guided him through the motions of making the tiny stitches. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin tried to focus on the sound of Nine’s voice and what he was supposed to do, but he was a little caught up in the closeness of him, of the feel of his hands over his, attention drawn to the places where Nine’s skin had faded back and Gavin could feel the plastic against the back of his hands. He was still getting used to this, the intimacy of the barest touch, but he could admit that in its own strange way, it was nice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually Gavin thought he had the hang of this whole knitting thing, but his attempt was nowhere near as neat as Nines’s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin supposed that he understood what Nines meant about it being soothing though. There was something to the repetitive motions that took over his hands as his focus singled in on the loop, round and stitch, that settled him into the moment, any stress of work fading back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin caught Nines watching him, a fond look on his face. But when he realised Gavin had noticed, a blue blush rose up on his cheeks and he hastily picked his own knitting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin switched on the tv, flicking through channels as Nines continued on the jersey beside him. So it was no surprise that Nines managed to finish Salmon’s jersey later that night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the end Salmon didn’t put up too much of a fuss when he was wrestled into the jersey. Gavin laughed silently at the colours Nines’s had chosen, making the cat look like a disgruntled ginger Santa Clause.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin managed to capture a picture of Salmon before he ran into the bedroom, clearly trying to escape his parents' antics. But Gavin had to admit that it was probably one of the most adorable sights (only a close second to Nines, especially a Nines wrapped in wool).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He texted the picture to Tina, captioned </span>
  <em>
    <span>nines’s handy work.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>A moment later she replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>i’m not even surprised</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then Gavin’s phone buzzed again.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>though i’d watch out if he’s taken to knitting jerseys…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>That comment made Gavin pause. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Given that it was December, seeing Salmon in a very clearly Christmas themed jersey, Gavin began to slightly fear for the state of the apartment in a few weeks when Nines decided to focus his attention on decorating for Christmas.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The wool that Nines had since unwound from around himself and rolled into balls caught Gavin’s attention from where it was lying on the coffee table. Gavin’s mind was suddenly filled with the image of himself in some sort of atrocious Christmas sweater that Nines would no doubt decide to make. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But despite that all, he knew that he was too far gone on the android. No matter how horrendous it ended up looking (or perfect looking, considering he </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> a state of the art android, and despite knitting not being part of his core programming, Nines would still make it perfectly), Gavin would still love it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because, well, he loved Nines. And that meant he loved everything else about him, including his new strange fascination with knitting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin would just have to give Nines the scarf he’d started working on in return. It would inevitably turn out a little lumpy. Gavin could already see where some of the stitches were larger in some places, smaller in others, showing where over the process he’d tensed up, pulling the yarn tighter. But he also knew that Nines would still graciously accept it, for much the same reasons Gavin would wear the sweater. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin could almost picture the smile Nines would give him as he wrapped it around his neck, despite being immune to the cold.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thanks for reading! this is my first time writing reed900, so kudos and comments appreciated<br/>i hope you enjoyed it! i do have a few more ideas for them sitting in my drafts...<br/>i'm on tumblr at <a href="https://underworld-capcakes.tumblr.com/">underworld-capcakes</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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